Great shout, i'm of the opinion that Steve McClaren isn't a bad coach because of what happened with England, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He deserves a lot of respect for not only gettin back into management that soon but also choosing to go abroad, something which other English managers seem reluctant to do. Good luck Steve and keep up the good work and dodgy accent!

McClaren is not a bad coach or manager; he was just not right for the England job given the egos that he was required to manage during his short reign, it is no coincidence that they?ve had to respond to a man who has served at AC Milan and Real Madrid when they may have found it hard to take the man from Middlesbrough seriously (even if he was Ferguson?s right hand man at Man U, so was Brian Kidd).

But let?s not get carried away about his achievements at Twente; Dutch football is in a similar crisis to the rest of the countries that have been jibbed by UEFA, who continue to fawn over England, Spain and Italy as their leagues generate the greater revenue. Whereas in the days before Bosman, future Dutch legends had to prove themselves at club or international level on an international stage before dipping their gifted toes in more lucrative waters, the current generation have had little success to speak of before being snapped up by the big boys (van Persie?s UEFA Cup winners medal for Feyenoord is an exception, and this was in his first season).

This season, no Dutch clubs made it to the last 16 of the Champions League or in the last eight the UEFA Cup (where only Ajax and Twente made it past the group stages). Considering their usually excellent pedigree in Europe, this is a sign of decline in the standard and standing of a football nation that has produced a host of gifted players who will live long in the memory. This is the very league that McClaren has ventured into.

Had McClaren taken over someone like Hearts and broken the Old Firm monopoly to finish second place, one might stand up and take notice, even though he?d be compared with collective talents of Graham Rix and George Burley who achieved this three seasons ago. As it is, his Twente side finished 11 points behind another club out of the traditional big three who will have to contend with the mercurial talents of Ronald Koeman now Van Gaal?s jumped ship to Bayern. He may yet get the vacant Ajax position and do wonders there, for sure. But it?ll count for considerably less if this does not transfer to Europe where money, and not the pool of national talent, is now more of a determining factor than ever.

It's a good case, though McClaren didn't do himself any favours by taking himself far too seriously when he was in the job.

Great post by the way, ykikamoocow.